Thursday

You may have heard of this film only in the context of the noted film critic Roger Ebert's attack on it as something that "crosses the line" when it comes to violence and offensiveness. (I'm still wondering if he and I saw the same movie at the Toronto Film Festival!)

I beg to differ with Mr. Ebert's opinion that any person with basic sensibilities will be completely offended by this film. I don't believe it necessarily pushes the limits that had been previously set by such "just as over the top" offerings as PULP FICTION and RESERVOIR DOGS. This film might suffer from the fact that it is NOT a Tarantino production, but if you like cartoonish violence, obvious stereotypes and oddball chitchat on cultural themes (Star Trek, anyone?), it will not disappoint. I went into it with no preconceptions (I bought a ticket at the last minute on the day of the 2nd screening) and was surprisingly entertained.

As I stated earlier this year, in my review of Swordfish (which was scripted by this films writer/director/producer Skip Woods) this is a good film. It ranks very high up there in my crime flick list among Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Pulp Fiction and Snatch. Basically I think this film is for me what Reservoir Dogs was for many people - a cult classic - although I prefer to compare it with Pulp Fiction. I mean I never liked Tarantino's first effort a lot, but I sure as hell liked this one as much as I like Pulp Fiction, for it simply has everything a classic needs. A great story and good actors. OK the budget might be not as big as in for instance Godzilla, The Avengers of Mission to Mars but it sure as hell beats the living crap out of those films (and numerous others).

The story of this film, is about a man named Casey (Thomas Jane), who has settled down with his wife in Houston. Unexpectedly an old friend of his comes by disrupting his life, revealing his secrets and basically making his day a living hell (and a bloody one too).

The film is very original and quite bloody / sexually tinted. So based on that first and that last quality I can assure you that if you like this film, you'll also like Swordfish, which of course has a much bigger budget and more famous faces than this one but is just as good (though not as bloody and not quite as sexually tinted). I saw this film for the second time last night and I really enjoyed it (again). I mean all the characters and actors are good, although I must give very big credits to Thomas Jane and Paulina Porizkova, who were the best actors (and had the best characters) in the film. Also I'd have to thank Skip Woods for being so imaginative and original. Brutal, sexual, offensive??? Maybe, but sure as heck enjoyable and a thrill ride to the end.

8 out of 10

OK,so this film is NOT very well known,and wasn't very well publicised.I discovered this fairly brutal gangster gone good movie by complete accident on one of Skys millions of movie channels late on some boring evening,but I'm glad i did!The opening sequence to this film is fantastically comical in a very dark way.This in fact sets what i think is the general tone for the movie.I think a lot of critics and movie fans that have actually seen this film have been a bit unfair to just write it off as a lower budget gangster movie in the Reservoir Dogs vein.OK,so there are undeniable similarities between Thursday and some other crime genre films that it has been compared to,but in all fairness,i think this film takes a much more darkly comic look at this type of film,and the end result is a engrossing,well made,funny,if not totally original film.Tom Jane is good in this,and deserves the recognition he will now hopefully get thanks to the The Punisher.His performance as the bad guy gone good is realistic,funny and just cold enough to make you believe Casey really was a bad ass before he reformed.Thats another thing that makes this film stand out for me,the characters.In Nicks gang you get the strangest trio of criminals ever assembled,a smooth,charismatic but very cold leader(Nick),a trigger happy blood loving sexually predatory bitch of a woman(Dallas)and a psychotic hill billy with brains with a penchant for torture(Billy Hill).Throw in the most bizarre police detective ever seen on screen,beautifully over played by Mickey Rourke,and you've got a recipe for...well for Thursday really.Its at times darkly comic,sometimes brutal,sometimes unoriginal,but always engrossing and worth watching.8/10

01/15 Smooth, funny, well done movie. Lots of twists to the storyline and well acted by professional actors. This was my second watch, still good fun. Bon Appetit

Loved the movie, could kick myself for not buying it right away when the Unrated version was (briefly) re-released on DVD and generally available.

Similar in flavor to "Pulp Fiction," but I wouldn't call it a knock-off, as so many have. Tarantino and Woods both have a talent for realistic, believable dialogue by colorful but still believable characters in a genre where it's seldom seen. But, in this movie Woods also shows a flair for using the absurd, and annoying, realities of everyday life to move the plot along. Woods, like great comedians, exposes the little frustrations of life that we all experience but few will admit to, and deals with them in politically incorrect, yet satisfying, finality.

This movie is well worth watching: sex, blood, outrageous dialogue supported by even more outrageous action, corruption, redemption, and the satisfaction of finally seeing a loud-mouthed, nagging wife at a loss for words when she is forced to confront the fact that there's more to her husband than just the long list of imagined faults she's dreamed up.

See it...soon!